May 14

1796 - English physician Edward Jenner performed the first successful vaccination, inoculating an eight-year-old boy against smallpox and laying the foundation for modern immunology.

WOW!!! How many millions (billions?) of human beings have been saved from the scourge of smallpox by this vaccine alone? And this was just the beginning of the history of immunology.

For this reason, Dr. Jenner should go down as one of the ten most important people in the history of the world...Alexander, Caesar, etc., were great leaders, but is their value for all of humanity, for the rest of time, even close to that of Dr. Jenner’s?  It's debatable.

1787 - Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

These brilliant men met to create the most important legal text in the history of the world...Out of which grew the federal republic we know as the United States of America.

1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase left St. Louis. The expedition started up the Missouri in a 55-foot covered keel boat and two small craft.

These explorers were the astronauts of their time, and their journey was every bit as dangerous as the trips to the moon...In fact, more people expected the lunar astronauts to return home than those who expected this mission to end successfully.

I highly recommend you read about this great adventure: Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West.

1948 - British rule in Palestine came to an end with the Jewish National Council proclaiming the State of Israel. Within hours Israel was under attack from Arab forces.

And they’ve been at war ever since...I am a huge proponent of the Israeli State, and hope with all my heart it lasts forever.

That said I am very leery of a few million Jews in a sea of a billion Muslims...Time will tell, but we should all pray for 'The People of the Book.'

1955 - Representatives from eight Communist Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland. The Warsaw Pact was inspired by Nikita Khrushchev to strengthen the Soviet hold over its Eastern European allies.

The ‘Iron Curtain’ was 'strengthened' and the Cold War got much hotter...Also, it should be noted this 'alliance' was created to control the nations in the bloc as much as it was to defend against NATO.

1984 - The chairman of the Soviet Union's Olympic Committee told a Moscow news conference his country's decision to withdraw from the summer games in Los Angeles was "irrevocable."

They were correct to withdraw, just as the U.S. was in 1980...But not for the reasons both gave.  I wish the entire Olympics would go away, because it is a corrupt showcase for dictators, corrupt politicians, and even more corrupt scumbags in the International Olympic Committee.

1986 - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said in a televised address that casualties from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster had risen to nine dead and 299 hospitalized, but said, "The worst is behind us."

9 or 299 or 2,999,999, what’s the difference in the 'Land of the Gulags?'...When life is cheap, statistics mean nothing. In fact the higher the number, the less important it often is.

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin.

1992 - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev appealed to the U.S. Congress to pass a bill aiding the people of the former Soviet Union.

What other people in history have rebuilt the nations and economies of the countries it defeated? NONE!

And it should be noted, this is a theme in American history:  Germany, Japan, etc.

1993 - President Bill Clinton told a news conference his threat of military force to halt the war in the former Yugoslavia was "still on the table" despite opposition from European allies.

How dare Clinton not pass the 'Global Test,' upsetting our European 'ALLIES?'

2000 - Tens of thousands of mothers rallied in Washington to demand strict control of handguns.

If they really want handgun control they should have rallied to put more police on the streets, arrest all of the shit-heads, and execute those who murder...This is how you control the ‘handgun problem.’

Guns in the hands of good people are not dangerous, and the Second Amendment guarantees our right to them. Also, it's important to remember each of the amendments to the Constitution has equal value, and would be meaningless without the other.